Best Prepared Mole (2012)

Think you know your way around the traditional Mexican sauce mole? Not so, if you haven't tasted Teloloapan red mole. To fill you in, Teloloapan is a city in the state of Guerrero, which is best known for flashy resorts such as Ixtapa, Zihuatanejo and Acapulco. If you've eaten mole in any of those places, it may have come from Teloloapan, which is the mole-making center of southwestern Mexico. And if you want to eat it here, you're in luck: The Rivas family from Teloloapan has set up shop at Rivas Food Company to make the mole paste they know from home. What is it like? Less sweet than mole poblano, the famous dish concocted in the convents of Puebla, says Julian Rivas. Different chiles, too, and no tomatoes, unlike traditional poblano formulas. The best way to find out is to taste it yourself. You can pick up a container at Rivas Food Company in Santa Ana, but it's also sold in L.A. Sonia's Artesanias, El Mercado, 3245 E. First St., Boyle Heights. (323) 262-0303, molerojo.com.